SF Remaster: Resurrection
by Phantomfoxx
Summary: The remaster, as I promised. It will include every part of Resurrection to date. Meaning Part 3 will be included as soon as it's finished. That means the cover too. Please read the foreword (first chapter uploaded) first.
1. First things first

Foreword:

Writing... something you do for fun or as a professional. One thing is for sure: Once you're doing it, you don't wanna quit. Inspiration flows and your imagination goes wild on all fronts. If I have learned anything in my few months of being a Starfox Fanfic writer, it is that I managed to improve myself. When I look back at Lifting Kurse, I see a lot of missing details that I would have liked to address. I know, I'm not on my top of my quality, even though I think I can't get any higher. What I'm trying to say is, that there is no top. There is no 'BEST WRITER' or 'BEST BOOK'. In the fanfic universe, it's about learning. Tilting your own work to a higher level. If that is with the help of positive reviews or even negative ones, it all helps us. My level is around 2 of 10, I guess. Since I promised a remaster on the first two Resurrection parts, I give a taste of how I have improved over my writer's career here on Fanfiction.

Thanks to:  


GrimlockX4: You were my first reviewer for Lifting Kurse and source of inspiration for Part 2. Can't thank you enough.

The anonymous guy: The second reviewer. I still have no idea who you are. If you read this, please contact me. I'll check out your story.

Krystal StarFoxFan11849: The third reviewer. Although you don't reply to anything I send you, thanks for your support.

TroyGroomes: For continued support throughout the entire career. Either with conversations over Facebook or with your OC's, you are awesome. BTW, finish your story.

BlackDeath2000: I hope that I inspire you once more to continue the story you suddenly stopped on.

Wing Ace: For the inspiration for G-Zero Chronicles and also for a few reviews. Again, I'm sorry for the whole Perfect Insanity Creepypasta thingy.

Mumble1029: Suddenly, out of nowhere, this dude comes up. I don't know if you know how your compliments hit me, but they certainly did. I nearly cried. You said my stories were total and utterly epic. Well, you are too dude.

My (Dutch) best friend: Your knowledge and tips is probably the reason why I didn't commit suicide yet. Finally a guy who understands more about the world around us. I couldn't wish for any one better. Thanks Kev. You're a real bro.

Syxxfox: The legend, the man himself. I'm not worthy! Kidding. Thanks for the permission to use ROUGE FOX elements. You made my career work.

Razorblade88: Thanks for the support, ideas and Johnny, Adonis and the idea of Jade. You made Part 3 as awesome as it is now.

thetwinphoenixes: Another one I've inspired (partially but still). Also you, are not to missed in all this.

bryan mccloud: Even though I hate your continued use of 'lol', I kinda like you (not gay). Thanks for Cloudy! His redemption comes...

FromAnotherWorld: For pointing me to a fault within The Phantomfoxx Updates. I know, it's small compared to the rest, but still. It will be taken care of.

Kennedi Grover: I have no f*cking clue who you are, but I guess a troll. A warning for all those I've mentioned: THIS GUY IS NUTS!

Coyote2486: Sorry for the sudden jump over the name "Rise". I have no idea what got into my mind. Good luck on your long term project.

Order and Chaos - Qui Iudicant: My Writer's Note series flopped heavily but you made it your favorite. BROFIST TO YOU!

jak12132: For following Part 2 of Resurrection.

dajuanwilliams: For overflowing my mailbox with messages like reviews and the fact that you made G-Zero and me your follow/favorite. I see you as the symbolic springboard for G-Zero Chronicles.

* * *

All of you, have a special place in my heart. One more than the other, but still. Without all of you, I would probably be writing down pure sh*t. If I have left someone out... please report. So, without further delay;

_**WELCOME TO THE NEW PHANTOMFOXX RESURRECTION REMASTER!**_

_**The first preview will be submitted very soon...**_


	2. Prologue

Like I said, the remaster for Lifting Kurse. Thanks to Coyote2486, for borrowing Coyote for the first scene. 

**Prologue: Phantom**

It's fairly dusty around the gas station. The red neon letters, spelling out the name or the light coming from the shop within aren't of any help. Outer space surrounds the small meteor on which the gas station is build on. Shining stars, mysterious nebula and deformed planets make it have a mixed feeling. The stars and nebula are quite beautiful, but the deformed and disgusting looking planets make you wonder what horror has come upon it. The only sound is the ringing of the cash register inside and the brewing noise of an operating station. The blue, sparking energy cells travel through the tube into the reservoir of an Cornerian conversion of an old Venomian Invader I fighter. It's just a fighter on loan, since his own is in the garage, which is part of the gas station. It's currently the only fighter or ship around. Coyote, former member of the LCEF (Lylat Crime Eradication Federation), lets go of the lever and stops the flow of energy cells. He puts it back inside the station and turns around to close the lid. While he does that, he can hear a loud noise coming from behind him.

'Destination in 3... 2... 1... touchdown.' reports a computer voice as an Arwing-like ship lands on the other side of the stations, next to Coyote's. But something is off with it. Not only does it have 6 G-Diffusers, but the ship looks ragged and scratched. The G-Diffusers shake and spark, like they can fall off any minute. When the wind blows, one almost snaps off. Above all; almost unable to fly. The cockpit opens and an mysterious person jumps out, wearing a long, gray trench-coat. He looks up to face Coyote. The face somehow reminds him of someone he never wants to meet ever again: Galon. He shakes it off while he grumbles. Coyote just stands there, not sure what to think about the vulpine that jumped out. However, when he steps into the light, Coyote recognizes him immediately.

'Hey!' he calls out. The vulpine looks up, his rusty white fur gleaming in the light coming from above. 'You're Phantom! From Star-Phantom, right?'

Wrong choice of words. No one has called him Phantom in many months. He grates his teeth, makes a fist and nearly reaches for his pocket... but he manages to restrain himself, simply stating: 'Fuck off... no time chit-chat. *takes a good look at him* LCEF?'

'Indeed. Well, was. But yeah, LCEF and proud off it.' states Coyote proud.

'Nah...' waves Phantom off. 'You guys were a bunch of wimps. PAH! No wonder that Phantom Ltd. made up the idea of Star-Phantom! You were unsuccessful as the concept was!'

A heated discussion starts between the two. Phantom remains calm, putting his paws in the pockets while Coyote has a rage of epic proportions. When Phantom starts to get annoyed, he presses a button on a small key in his right pocket. The G-Diffusers of the other ship light up and it hovers in the air. It turns towards Coyote, horrifying him in the process.

'PAL... you're clear.' comments Phantom.

'Yes sir... If you say so...' says PAL against his will as the lasers charge up. Coyote jumps away from the incoming lasers, who crash the windows of the shop and trash everything in sight. Detecting the stations, PAL ascends above the gas station and continues to fire upon Coyote, running towards the garage. He glides underneath the open garage door and closes it. The lasers nearly break through the iron curtain as Coyote takes his well deserved breath. He sees his ship standing in the darkness of the garage.

*Wow! This guy is insane. True, he disappeared for the quite some time but... what the hell happened to him!?* Coyote thinks it all over while Phantom stops PAL with a hand gesture. He grabs a small bag, looking like a sack of potatoes and sticks it on one of the stations. He presses the large button in the middle of it and runs towards PAL. He descends and Phantom jumps in and flies off. Coyote opens the garage door and sees him fly off while hearing a certain set of beeps, going faster and faster.

'Oh shit...' he comments dry as the entire gas station blows up, eradicating the shop, but only damaging the garage. Coyote watches the fire burn and sees that the Invader I is nothing more then ash, even less than that. The gray trench-coat falls before Coyote, leaving Phantom's mark behind.

If imagination demands...  
Proudly presents:

The remaster by:  
_Phantomfoxx_

**Starfox Resurrection Part 1: Lifting Kurse**

Star Phantom Audio Log; date 17 ALW, 19th September…

'Phantom here, *sigh* G-Diffuser system malfunctions more and more and fuel shortages are high. Because of some nightmare look-alike I couldn't get any... Left wing is partially broken, leaving me flying diagonally. Hopefully I'll get a change of acquiring a gyro-lock; this thing is making me wanna barf. *burp* Blegh, disgusting. Anyway, the main hull has a lot of chunks in it. It's been six months since I set foot on an actual planet, the meteor with that jackass not counted for. And two years since, *takes time to compose himself* the accident. Disbanded, literally. Gah, sounds rather amusing than actually painful and sad isn't it? Ha ha... huh... hu... grrr *Angers himself* ggrrrrRRACK! Who the fuck cares!? End of log!'

He closes the screen, nearly breaking the screen. He lets out a small tear as he remembers the station accident well. *This is not me...* he thinks only to wipe the tear away and smash into a random screen with his fist.

*Crack* sounds throughout the cockpit as he implanted the fist firmly. A small smoke plume coming from the biggest hole in the glass, signaling its demise. He squeezes his fist, till the nerves and arteries are shown.

'Argh, ouch, damn it!' he complains as he casts off his paw. 'Well, I didn't need that screen anyway.'

He looks at the controls, only to find it messy and full of warning signals. As he looks down, he sees some scrap papers and used takeaway bags. *Hey, a candy bar* A louder noise than normal comes up, breaking his thoughts and automatically detaches the upper and lower 4 G-Diffusers, leaving the 2 horizontal diffusers to be.

'WHAT THE...? PAL!?'

'I'm sorry to report that the external G-Diffusers have been detached from a distance. It seems that Butcher is completely rolled up.'

He is actually happy to hear, but doesn't show it. 'Bring up my documents. Every database. And my agenda as well.'

'Agenda brought up. You have one task... but the software is damaged. Something with a bounty hunter and cursed. Might be misspelled but nevermind. Abou the database, every one?'

'Even if you have to hack it. Do it.' commands Phantom while he looks down.

He sees his own silver pants, ripped apart and with some blood. His rusty white fur was full of scars and infections that just look plain awful. *Jegh, it smells disgusting. Not that it hurts or anything. I don't feel a firkin' thing* His grey shirt looks exactly like his pants. He peeks at his leather gloves. They're surprisingly unscratched. He forms his hands into a fist and puts it over his eyes.

*Radar beeps*

'What the heck!? PAL, what's going on?' scares Phantom.

'Unknown vessels approaching from behind' reports PAL.

'Finally, some action! *rubs his paws* PAL, leave the documents for later. Take me there.'

He adjusts his G-Diffuser with a twist of the control stick and turns around. The signal seems to be coming from a location close to an egg-shaped, fire red planet. While flying around the signal, he can't spot anything.

'PAL, what's going on? I can't see a vessel, fighter or ship!' complains Phantom irritated.

'Recalibrating… Scanning... Identity confirmed. Vessel is an unarmed Cornerain MX-1 transport ship using Visual Jammers for protection against pirates.'

Phantom smiles, almost manically; 'Well, I'm not a pirate.' he comments.

'Your suggestion…?'

His smile turned into an evil grin, and he feels a hollow laughter coming up. He can nearly condemn himself.

'Sir, you are frightening me, this is not the fox I used to know.'

'That's exactly the point PAL, he's been gone never since... well, you know. And of course the other thing with... *angers himself again* Oh just SHUT it! Fly will ya!? You're almost bringing that asshole up in me again!'

'Y…yes sir.'

'Thank you'

As his ship moves in to the transport ship's location, Phantom leans back into his chair and pulls his left glove off. He closes his eyes and rubs his chin, thinking.

*Another close encounter. I need to make sure that he never comes up again! Even if that means that I gotta take care of PAL... ARGH! This isn't me. I've become something I never wanted to become... and I'm not sure if I enjoy being him. My life, my innocence... my valor and... GRR... my love. *deep breath as he shakes it off* I'll have to deal with it I guess. It better be over soon.*

As a reference to both Coyote2486 and thetwinphoenixes (comes up, no spoilers), Phantom is on his way to nowhere. The MX-1 transport ships, are marked for doom. Hopefully you've clearly seen my improvements in writing style. More chapters are on the way.  



	3. Status quo

The story now goes to the other leading character. She has been through quite a lot... This chapter was partially created thanks to the inspiration I got from the cover image of Diamond in a Rough by shiverinthelight. Thanks for it.  


**Chapter 1: Status quo**

'Four years ago, I left it all behind. Not a day goes by without self compassion and distrust for any decision made in situations from the past. Fox and Panther, a hard choice. Fox saved me from death on Sauria and during the Aparoid Invasion. But Panther was there when I needed love, when Fox turned me down. Still, only Fox managed to find me once. What does it matter!'

All kinds of thoughts are crossing her mind while she is lying in bed. She opens her eyes, revealing one, sparkling and clear, turquoise blue right eye and one, lifeless black iris on the left. She always hides her right under her purple hair, showing everyone just her black iris, as a reflection of her personality. It is dark, with only a ray of sunlight breaking through a largely covered window. Red shorts and a bra are her only clothing; her original black latex outfit was left to perish away in the desert sands, on which blood sticks. She feels her forehead; a mark is there. Some dried up blood stains surround it and some even dripped down towards the tip of her mouth. She closes her eyes again; she doesn't wanna open up her eyes to the real world anymore.

'Kinda beautiful isn't it?' she suddenly hears from her right. She turns her head to see a yellow-furred vixen with a white stripe running through the middle of her body. It also covers her entire body. Dressed almost the same as Lara Croft minus the grenade around the hips and missing the dual-wielded pistols. Instead, she has two large hooked swords strapped on her back. Kursed finally starts to understand what is going on; she is back here. Suddenly, it isn't a dream anymore. She should know what is going to happen, but she simply doesn't remember it. In her right paw, she is holding her gold staff. The purple ruby in the tip has a darker finish and the other end turned into a razor sharp blade, still the same size and form. She has it stabbed into the desert sand below her. Her left elbow is resting upon the structure of a giant wooden crossbow, aimed towards the target approaching from the horizon in the upper left.

The heat is scorching and menacing, but two bounty hunters don't mind. Standing on the edge of a mountain range, looking down into the valley. A dust cloud forms in the distance and reveals to be left behind by their target. It is an old fashioned carriage, driven by mechanical horses. The target is sitting up top, desperately whipping on the sensors on the horse's backs. He constantly look over his shoulder. Estelle laughs.

'Does that idiot still thinking we're behind them?' laughs Estelle. Kursed shrugs and sighs.

'If only that guy would hurry up...' she complains as she kicks some sand away. It rustles around before it drops meters down into the valley.

'Tsk, tsk.' fusses Estelle. 'You seem to forget what it's all about Miss Emo. Remember how much money that old fart is gonna cough up when we finish that job!?'

Kursed shrugs again before her eyes open up wider when the carriage comes closer. 'I only care for the kill. *smiles at Estelle as places her left paw on the wheel of the structure* Come on. Help me with this.'

Kursed and Estelle turn the wheel back, pulling back the enormous cylinder formed iron bar, figuring as an arrow. When even their combined strength can't pull it any further, they hold on.

'I... argh... think I'm losing my grip!' panics Estelle while she tries with everything to hold on.

'Hold on a little longer. Ugh... *sees the carriage* just a little closer you idiot... NOW!' screams Kursed as the both of them let go of the wheel. The wheel spins forward like there is no tomorrow as the giant iron tube is launched towards the carriage. Kursed, standing with her paws in her sides and Estelle whipping her hair back standing next to her, watches proud as the iron tube breaks right through the middle of the carriage. The carriage, still going at a high speed, flips on its right side, dragging the mechanical horses with it. It whips up a large sand cloud and it covers the wreckage. Normally, a great defense. But in the case of the carriage driver, it's a death trap. His glasses are broken, so he barely see anything. He desperately searches through sand, looking for the suitcase he carried around the whole time. The horses are making nothing more then disrupted sounds and static screeches until the last one has its eye stabbed out, by the sharp end of Kursed' staff.

In the midst of his panic, the driver manages to find the suitcase in the sand. He lifts it out of its 'tomb' and holds it in his hands while his face lights up. It is short lived as one of Estelle's hooked sword hooks into the grip of the suitcase, tugging it out of the driver's hands. It lands out of his reach. The sand cloud subsides and Kursed and Estelle stand right behind him.

'What a pity little man!' bites Kursed.

'Yeah. I bet he pissed his pants already.' adds Estelle.

'P-please. Don't hurt me...' pleads the driver. 'I-i have a family *is represented to the hooked ends of Kursed' metal boomerang as it is pressed against his throat* please...?'

Kursed looks with a stale expression on her face, her black eye glaring at the driver's frightened face. 'Like I haven't heard that excuse...' says Kursed before she stabs the two points of the end into the throat, gives it a swing to her right and slashes the throat of the driver open. Blood spatter lands on the sand beside her and a little in her face. '...before.' ends Kursed unemotional before putting the boomerang back on her belt.

'Nice job Kursed. Now... let's see what is in that suitcase.' says Estelle, very eager for a bonus.

'Are you serious?' complains Kursed as she sees Estelle run towards the suitcase, with the gargling and chocking driver next to it. Gasping for breath, he manages to mutter these numbers: 1203, before he dies in the sand. His glasses fall of his lifeless face as they are crushes underneath the heel of Kursed' boot. Estelle in the meantime has been busy trying to open the suitcase when suddenly it begins to smoke through the cracks. Kursed notices this, but Estelle sees nothing but an extra bonus.

'Estelle!' she calls out as she grabs Estelle by her collar and drags her away. To little, too late as the suitcase seemed to be comparable to a suitcase-nuke. The explosion is immense and knocks Kursed down on the ground and sends Estelle flying, landing face down in the sand a few dozen meters away. Kursed rises from the ground and dusts off her outfit as she looks upon the fire that was once a carriage and suitcase.

'Well... at least he's dead.' she states cold before she turns around to see how Estelle is doing. But instead of a 'I'm alright', a sword is thrown towards her. She barely evades it by ducking but has to do a cartwheel to evade the second one. It is stuck inside the sand as Kursed lands on her feet, unscratched. She looks up with a astonished look on her face; Estelle was the one throwing the swords. With the sand in her face and all over the rest of her body, several scratches and bruises mixed with her teared up clothing, she looks deranged.

'How dare you!?' she accuses. 'That was my bonus! I've worked so hard for that!' screams Estelle.

'What is wrong with you? We did it together, remember?'

'Nag, nag. Big deal! I got the money, you the kill. That was the deal. And now I don't get my money... *looks even angrier and vengeful* you shouldn't have gotten your kill.' she states somewhat restrained before she charges at Kursed.

'You can still have the money! 2 million! All for you!'

But reasoning doesn't seem to work. On to the alternative then. The two vixen meet head on. Paw against paw, head against head and with their feet in the sand, it's a competition of sheer strength. But Estelle decides to play dirty. She ducks away, stomps her feet in Kursed' stomach and lifts her over herself. Kursed manages to regain herself in mid-fall and somersaults back up to see that Estelle has grabbed her swords again. She gets out her staff and the tip divides, charging a laser blast. Again, Estelle charges out her.

'IT WAS MY MONEY! YOU'VE DESTROYED IT! NOW YOU MUST PAY!'

If she wasn't in a life threatening situation, she would at least have shown something as little as a smile, but instead she is too busy holding her staff horizontal. The laser charge is getting out of control, but that's exactly what Kursed wants. At the moment of overcharge, she releases the red blob of energy as it flies towards Estelle. She crosses her two swords to form a makeshift shield. The immense blast blows her away and the recoil shoves Kursed away too. Estelle refuses to give up, even after the impact made large burn-marks on the swords and the unprotected parts of her face. Kursed has had enough as Estelle charges again.

'Don't make me do this!' warns Kursed as she stabs the staff with the divided part facing upwards in the sand. Estelle doesn't respond. Seeing no other option, Kursed continues. She grabs the boomerang and places one end between the divided tips. The tips grow to an extent that the boomerang is large enough to fit in. It starts to spin around, going faster and faster.

'RAAAAARGH!' screams Estelle as in an act of vile rage, she jumps up into the air to slash Kursed to pieces with her swords in the air. Kursed sees her coming, with a heavy sigh, releases the boomerang. With an immense speed, it flies in bow upwards towards Estelle. The screaming of Estelle stops; the hooked end of the boomerang is stuck inside her forehead. Her paws let go of the swords as Kursed sees her once trusted partner in bounty hunting falls down in front of her. It's a fairly clean kill, as only a few drops of Estelle's blood land on Kursed' face and outfit. One sword lands beside her, blade first. But where is the second blade? She looks up to see that the underside of the grip of the sword comes falling down on her.

At the moment of impact, Kursed wakes up with a start. She wipes her forehead again and looks at what she wiped away from her forehead: some sweat and blood from the impact mark. It was real... and happened just a day ago. She woke up, took the swords with her, leaving Estelle's dead body in the desert. Along with her black suit and boots, since they were contaminated with Estelle's blood. For the rest, she can barely remember. She looks down to the right side of the bed, finding ripped photos and papers. She grabbles through the mess and picks a random piece up.

It's one of the things she has been doing ever since she stayed on Kew, even with her career. The piece she picks up, is a well known part. A part of a photograph that belonged to happy, distant memory: Krystal and Fox. The piece shows Fox's head, smiling, like he is really here. She starts crying on her side, for more than ten minutes long while listening to Three Days Grace's "Animal I have become." She then quickly reaches over to her nightstand and grabs a blaster. She puts it against the right side of her head. She pulls the trigger four times, in front of Fox's face.

'THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!' she screams. But nothing happens. No matter how many times she pulls the trigger. It's empty, like every time she tried. As she throws the piece and blaster away, she wipes her tears away.

'Big girls don't cry.' she says to herself 'Why should I? There's not much to live for anyway'. She rises from her bed and grabs her boomerang from the other side of the nightstand. From her bed, she throws the boomerang diagonally into a dartboard hanging on the door showing Estelle's picture. Lucky or not, it ends up in the exact same position where Estelle was hit the first time; right in the forehead. She walks down the hallway towards the shower. The door to the other room facing the bathroom is half open and coughing can be heard from it.

*Old shit.* she thinks. *A quick shower will do me well* she thinks while taking her clothes off. She turns on the shower, on a hot temperature. As she looks at the beams of water streaming down her body, she collapses and starts crying again.

*Why me...* is the question haunting her mind at the moment.

She steps out of the shower, combs her hair over her right eye and puts her clothing back on. She opens the door, picks up her staff and boomerang and walks down the stairs. But before she can even place her foot on the first step, the coughing in the other room is head again. She heads over to the room. The big green leather gentlemen-chair is standing diagonally in front of the fireplace. It is lit, so someone is clearly sitting there.

'Come over here gurl...' coughs an old man's voice as Kursed enters the room. She stands on the opposite of the room, facing the wrinkled old coyote. Having a small white beard, similar to that of a goat and a stale, depressed expression on his face, he looks like your typical grumpy grandpa. But nothing is less true.

'So... where is the other one?' he asks impatient as he looks around. Estelle was always his favorite, if you know what I mean. Kursed is disgusted by the fact that Estelle even wanted it. Everything for money... even killing her partner.

'I said... where is the other one? You came home last night without her!' he complains. And the raging goes on and on. Mostly about how she was always better than Kursed. That he took her in, cared for her.

*Yeah... define 'taking care of you' in his words.* thinks Kursed as she rolls her eyeballs around.

'Don't you eyeball at me you cunt! *cough* You ungrateful filth! *cough* I should have left you to be... when that guy you had imprisoned got away. But no... you were hella lucky that Estelle recommended you... *swallows* Well... I guess it's time to redeem yourself... eh?'

'*shrug* If you say so...' she says uninterested. 'What's up?'

'*grabs a mug* Go downstairs and get me some coffee from that sweetheart Therisa.' he says as he hands over the mug. 'After that... we'll talk.'

Kursed leaves the room with the mug and turns around one last time to ask a question, that will determinate her decision. 'Do you want any ladyfingers with that?'

Heavily coughing and laughing at the same time, he says: 'Bahaha! No... don't worry. I have a ladyfinger down here! Whaha!'

*Another sexist joke. I've had enough! Late night stands with Estelle I could tolerate, but you are not gonna expect me to turn out to be like her!* angers Kursed herself. Still laughing, the laughing soon stops as Kursed breaks the mug to pieces on the coyote's head with her left paw while her right grabs the boomerang from her belt. With a large swing, she stabs one end right into the old coyote's heart. One last muscle spasm, signals his demise. She retrieves the boomerang, turns around and throws it into the dartboard. Being on the outside of the door and being that door closed a little, it's not that hard when you're skilled. She calms herself down and walks down the stairs while she puts her hair back over her blue eye.

As she come down, she can loud noises. When downstairs, the noises become stronger. From intoxicated slurs to bar fights, from breaking to roaring men. The disgusting scent of all sorts of cigars, cigarettes and even joints lingers. The tables are filled with all sorts of scumbags from everywhere. Either Lylat, Recus or even far beyond that. She sits down at an empty table and orders breakfast. Two pieces of toast with cheese and fries are served in front of her with a glass of water. While she is calmly eats her breakfast, three heavy looking thugs wearing black armor notice her. As the four approach her, she remains extraordinarily calm. They sit down, forming complete circle around her.

'Hey, vixen beauty… what's a nice little girl like you doing here?' says one, who can barely stop drooling.

'None of your business.' she says cold. *What are these assholes thinking they're doing?*

'Hehehe, a fiery one I see, the boss loves your kind.' says the second.

'Yeah, nice and tight. An hourglass figure and a free will. Something to oppress.' froths the third.

She looks far from frightened as the figures were coming closer even closer to her.

'Stop it you idiots!' sounds from a dark corner close to the bar. Frightened, the thugs look at the presence in the darkness.

'Oh, hey, Boss, we were not gonna…' stumbles one.

'Shut your trap, worthless piece of crap!' barks the man.

A big green-grey bulldog with blocks as muscles covered in silver spiked armor plating comes into the light. Slime drools from his mouth and one eye is covered with a scar.

'Out of way!' he bites as he pushes him away and sits down next to Kursed.

'I'm sorry for the rude treatment of my men.' he apologizes honest. 'Their adrenaline rush is still going on from the previous mission.'

'Not a big deal, Boss.' she says calm.

'*observes her* Hey, you look like a girl that works for her own cause.' he suggests.

'I don't have a cause.' she states cold. 'That is if you don't count surviving idiots like you.' mocks Kursed. The Boss sees it more like a game as he starts to roar.

'Alright, alright. How about giving you a new cause: join us.'

'Join you? Pfff... sure. After I've seen what kind of pussies your men are? Pah! Even Panther dickbrain Caruso could kick the crap out of them. *wipes some cheese away from her lip* No, *swallows and looks at the boss* If that is the case, then I prefer to work alone.'

'Seriously?' says The Boss astonished. But he turns uninterested very fast. 'Well, I guess, if you're no use to me, than I would rather let my men rush out their adrenaline with you.'

The Boss leaves the table and exits the hotel. Kursed remains calm and finishes her meal.

'Alright you dirtbags have your way with her.' he says as he walks out the door.

'Hehehe, don't worry about it sir.' drools the first.

'Yeah, we'll go easy on her.' states the second.

She slowly grabs her staff as the thugs approach her. She flips away the table and looks very furious at the creeping thugs.

'What are you doing beauty? Don't be nervous.' froths the third.

'Is that a golden staff? Heh heh, I could some extra money!' states the second. But their smiles drench into an expression saying: 'Oh shit!' as the tip of Kursed' staff divides into two sharp points.

'Wait, what you are gonna…'

*Smack* is heard before the thug can finish his sentence. With an uppercut from the end of the staff, she plants the top of the staff in the ground. She uses her staff as a hold-on when she kicks right into the second one's face. Landing perfectly with two knocked down already, she breaks the floor as she pulls the staff out of it. She aims for the remaining thug, the frothing one.

'You're disgusting...' *Staff laser*

The tip of the staff smokes a little while she looks at the carnage she created within a simple 20 seconds. She could have done a lot better, but these were her targets.

'Oh, ohohohoh!' complains the first as he possibly has a broken lower jam. Several teeth are scattered around him.

'So… much… pain…' mumbles the second, sounding like he just had a wisdom teeth pulled out and he's still dazed from the anesthetic.

'Ugh, who are you?' says the third while the froth coming from his mouth is splattered on his body armor, where also the impact mark of Kursed' laser hit.

She walked on towards the exit. As she opens the door, a bright light breaks through the darkness, highlighting her left side. As she looks towards the thugs on the ground, her black iris shines bright in the light. The thugs are somehow filled with fear when faced with her eye.

'My name...' she says soulless. 'It is the same as the fate that overcame you: My name is Kursed!' Her black eye seems shine when she says it. She walks out the door, and closes the door behind her, leaving the thugs to be.

Again, another happening not present in the original, but it benefits in explaining Kursed' situation right now. I hope you have enjoyed yet another remastered chapter.


	4. Two faces, one soul

We are coming back to the other leading character: Phantom. He ends up in a world made up by his own misery. Let's how that works out.

**Chapter 2: Two faces, one soul**

It is silent, and surprisingly black. In fact, everything is black. He doesn't see anything else. At least he can breath. Suddenly, a loud bang; an iron door, as hard and steady as that of a safe, is slammed open as the light of the immense fires surrounding the grey top floor come into the stairwell. He covers his eyes with his right arm as the other is covering a bullet wound in his side. The right paw is holding his BACR (Battlefield Adaptable Combat Rifle) single-handedly. A weapon capable of turning into a LMG, sniper rifle and a battle rifle with a press of the button and a turn of another switch on the giant ammo box integrated and forming the weapon for the most part in the first place. The light is partially blocked by a shadowy silhouette as he lowers his paw as the man standing before him covers his face in shadows; his with blood made and partially burned in all-seeing eye shines in the light.

'Mark...' exhales Psycho as he can barely stand on two feet, losing balance as he slams with his left shoulder and the left side of his face against the wall. The annoying, high-pitched beep is still raging around in his ear, suffering from a slight shell shock when gas canister below blew up right in his face. The fire was aimed in the opposite direction, roasting the Butcher-guards but the sound was deafening.

'Psycho... I mean Roger. You're okay.' says the blind, gunslinger excited as he catches Psycho as he falls the other direction.

'Geh...' moans Psycho as he depends on his bud to get him out, aiming his rifle forward over Mark's shoulder. '...never knew how you can still see. You're blind, right?'

'Those unwanted and horrendously painful operations had their purpose. They took something from us, breaking us and using us as puppets.' explains Mark as he and Psycho walk out of the stairwell, unto the roof. The night-sky is calm and beautiful. The moonlight reflects on the clouds, giving it extra atmosphere. That is, if you exclude the smoke plumes and dozens of helicopters flying around while the loudest alarm in history echoes setting your teeth on edge. 'I form peripheral like a radar, remember?' ends Mark as Psycho feels good enough to continue. A firm stab in his side with a shot of adrenaline heightens his senses.

'It seems that everyone is rampaging good.' comments Psycho, crossing his arms as he places his paws on his shoulders, looking like a mummy. Mark looks at him with a strange expression on his face.

'Seriously?' he remarks. 'Cryo-tube position? Your new trademark or something?'

Psycho shrugs and continues observing the annihilation of every building around him. The helicopter are getting downed one by one as the pilot's throats are slit. Appearing and disappearing like the shadow he is, Ninja goes from rooftop to rooftop and takes care of anyone standing in his way. Swipe, squatted on another rooftop is holding his pointed chain in on hand, swinging it around for a bit while his the other hand is floating above a button, eager to press it.

'Fire in the ASSHOLE!' he screams as he blows up the Major's quarters and the so called Galon's Depot. Psycho's eyes reflect the fire and his inner anger loves it. Sticking out his tongue, showing a ring pierced through the front part, he lets out the laugh defining insanity itself. The ring itself holds a special prize: Galon's cutting-teeth.

'Done?' asks Mark as he has heard it time after time, although this one was a little more nuts than usual. He and Mark attached ropes in the meantime to the exhaust of the central ventilation system of the building.

'Ready to rope down Psycho?' asks Mark rhetorical.

'Always Cowboy.' bites Psycho jokingly as the two abseil downwards.

'Don't call me Cowboy okay? I ain't calling you Psycho either, do I?'

'No, you're using me real name. Fucking great that is. *looks up to see a chopper firing at the exhaust* I think we have bigger problems.' he points upwards as explosions rage on the roof.

'Fuck! Kick in a window!' screams Mark as he starts stomping on a close by window. The moment it breaks, the whole roof comes down as multiple stages come with it. The cable snaps and falls down aimlessly; without Psycho or Mark being on them. They are already standing inside another room, safe and sound. Until the consequence of the collapse of the stages above them strikes like a bomb. The ceiling comes down and Mark is just fast enough to duck, but Psycho gets it on his head.

It is silent, and surprisingly white. In fact, everything is white. He doesn't see anything else; he is clearly somewhere else.. He doesn't breath this time, but doesn't die either. He tries to speak, finding out where Mark is, but no sound leaves his mouth. He floats around an empty space. No thoughts, no feelings. A soft, echo-like angel voice says out of nowhere: 'Come back to me, to the light...'

He closes his eyes as something holy seems to stroke his face. Moments later, he feels a gust of wind hitting his face, completely blowing away that feeling. The white begins to change to black as he is being blown away. Aimlessly, he flies around as he sees that the black begins to engulf him. The soft voice changed quickly to an angry and demonic voice saying: 'OR ELSE!'

His back suddenly clashes with something hard and invisible. As he tries to contain his pain, he begins to hear again. The first thing he hears is a somewhat familiar voice, far away. *No clue whatever this voice is saying. Hey, I can hear my own thoughts again.* The voice becomes more clear, but so are the sounds surrounding it. At first, nothing but static, but the static turns into explosions and cannon fire. He opens his eyes to find his ship in perfect condition with a clean shirt and pants. No loose candy bars or takeaway's but clean controls. He finds his hands firmly clutched to the control stick. 'Wow, that's a tight grip.' he says to himself, still a little dazzled about all of this.

'What did you say?' It was a female voice, soft, kind and beautiful. He looks to his side to find another Phantom-wing, with a shadowy silhouette of a vixen.'

'No, it can't be. *Tiff?* I'm back here?' he whispers to himself as he tries to find out what is going on.

'What's the problem Ro…?' notices Tiff before he interrupts her.

'Nothing, nothing, just stay focused.' interrupting her, not wanting to hear his real name; something that only reminds him of the very moment he signed the pact with the devil. The contract in which he agreed to be a Butcher, not knowing what would happen to him. But that didn't happen yet.

*Damnit, this exactly what happened two years ago. Can I reverse it? *shrug* I can try.*

'Tiff, get away from there!' he warns quickly as he knows what is coming up.

'What!?' shouts Tiff, not listening to commands. Always a rebelling... kind of a bitch.

'I said get to hell out of there!' he warns her again. To no effect as she keeps flying in the same direction.

'Why?' she asks suspicious.

'Just do will ya!? For you own safety!'

'Not until you tell me why Ro…'

'Just do it! Now!' he demands, almost with a hoarse voice. Thinking he made his point, he turns his face forward again only to see damnation coming towards him in the form of a white beam. It passes him by, but hits Tiff's ship full on. With a loud screeching noise and a white gleaming explosion, the ship is incinerated.

'NOOOOOOOOO…' His scream seems to last forever as the black disappears and turns into white once more, taking the scream with it. The inside of his Phantom-wing disappear as tears bursts out of his eyes. His scream, returns to his mouth. Again, it is quiet.

'Sir….' says a robotic but British-humanized voice somewhere far away.

'Sir?...' It gets closer...

'Wake up sir…' It gets pushy...

'Please wake up!' It gets pleading. It can only be one; PAL, the automated AI inplanted in his Phantom-wing ever since Butcher. The only one except for Mark (Cowboy) who understood him and stayed with him till the bitter end; his eventual escape. He partially dreamed about that too.

'Wh... Whe... What, what's…? Going on?' wonders Phantom dazed by the unsatisfying sleep he had. He sticks out his tongue and feels the front-end; the piercing his nowhere to be found. Relieved, he leans back in his chair.

'We have arrived at your selected target sir.' reports PAL.

Phantom begins to smile, but laughs on the wrong side of one's mouth.

'Is something bothering you in your sleep sir?' asks PAL concerned. 'You seem to have more and more of these. Are you sure it's a good idea to continue this mission you have been given? Sure... it was a lot of money. But the guy didn't even look half decent! I wasn't able to identify him!'

'That's none of your fucking business okay!? *condemns himself* Just, just leave it, okay? No time for bullshit right now. Focus on taking care of that transport vessel.

'A… Alright sir.' stumbles PAL, with a mixed feeling.

The Phantom-wing enters the security zone of the vessel. Its cloak disappears the moment the scan-beam of PAL unveils it. It alerts all Cornerian fighters around as they transmit to attack the incoming ship.

'Sir, incoming message.' reports PAL.

'*pressing the necessary buttons* Make sure it isn't wiretapped and I forbid that they can trace this all to me. Use a voice changer for my voice.' commands Phantom. A loading screen says 100% as the transmission starts up.

*Transmission*

_This is the Cornerian Army. This vessel is military property. Turn back now or we are forced to shoot you._

_Let me think about that._

_Mister, you only have five seconds to turn back or we will open…_

_FIRE!_

*Cornerian Fighter explodes*

_Everyone, we have got an enemy incoming. Protect the transport at all costs!_

*Radio*

'Nice... *evil smirk* a challenge. God, I love a good challenge!' he states as he goes completely berserk on the Cornerian fighters.

Several minutes later, the fighting ceases as the place has become a scrapheap for Cornerian fighters. The Phantom-wing, aside from what it already had, has no damage.

'Sir, the transport is transmitting SOS signals.' reports PAL as he hacked into the radio. 'They even have extra reinforcements called in and one of them is already on board.

'Yeah, let them squirm for a bit. I like that.' grins Phantom. 'About that reinforcement. *waves it off* Neh... not worth it.'

'Could we just finish what we've started?' says PAL, a little sick of all the narcissism. It tends to Psycho, someone Phantom is trying to forget.

'You're no fun are ya? Alright, we'll do it your way.' admits Phantom as he grabs a USB-stick out of his pocket. 'Play this once you have overtaken the video and intercom systems.'

'*chuckle* I don't wanna sound superior, but I already did that while you were jabbing about it.'

'Good work PAL.' comments Phantom happy as he sticks the USB in the designated port. 'Send it over bud!'

Relieved to hear the Phantom side of things for once, he delivers the message a little faster than he would usually do.

*Transmission*

_To the staged personnel of this Cornerian transport vessel. My name is not important nor is my motives for shooting down your security escort and looting your ship of fuel and parts. Don't resist and you will all see the light of a next day._

*Transmission*

'PAL, set course to the ship's bay' commands Phantom easily as he grabs his chin again.

'Affirmative. *notices* Is that a new thing? Looking intelligent for the ladies?' gestures PAL jokingly.

With Phantom laughing, the Phantom-wing flies towards the ship's bay. Incapable to land since it's just a small bay, he bails out using his ejector seat and leaves the Phantom-wing where it is.

'PAL, remind me to find another ejector seat.' he says to PAL as he looks at his ship. He's proud of it.

'I will sir. Good luck, I guess.' he wishes ambiguous.

Phantom turns around, looks at the ship and starts smiling. *Machines...* He shakes his head as he moves into the transport vessel. He is greeted by the personnel holding their paws up, with the weapons and anything they were holding in their hands on the ground.

'Ah, good thing everybody listened. *notices* Even the security personnel? Nice. *claps his hands once and starting rubbing them* Alright, here's the deal. Show me the valuable stuff, and all of you will live. Simple enough eh?' he explains.

Everyone else nods their heads.

'Everybody agrees. JOY! I just love it when we all agree. Saves a lot of time you know? Well, will someone guide me to the "Room of valuables"?'

A dog scientist volunteers and steps forward.

'Walk with me please…' he states in an obviously pretended way. He leads in deeper into the ship.

But ten minutes later, the two are still walking, when suddenly:

'Do you even know where it is?' asks Phantom as he starts to get irritated.

'No.' states the scientist simply.

'Why did you volunteer then?' Phantom is puzzled.

'For this…' he says as he looks up.

Coyote, dressed up as a security guard to blend in, is standing on a steel bar above Phantom and fires a stun dart in Phantom's neck as he drops down. Phantom's vision becomes blurry as he pulls it out and throws it away. However, it also becomes reddish. As if blood is dripping down from his forehead. He walks back, dizzy and confused as he sees Coyote approaching him.

'We didn't want to hurt you, it's the truth! We just want to help you!' exclaims the scientist looking concerned for his wellbeing, as if the anesthetic wasn't safe.

'Phantom... yes, I know your name. Please stop moving man. The effects will only stop if you stop moving.' gestures Coyote, making signals to tone him down.

He can't think straight as he wobbles about. He rubs his forehead with his glove and sees the crusted blood that formed the all-seeing eye on his forehead. To make matters worse, he loses his balance and falls with his left shoulder against the floor: just like in the dream. His bloody paw, slowly turns white to make matters the worst.

'No, stay back. Stay back I tell you!' says Phantom as he notices Coyote from the corner of his eye. He finds the strength to crawl away.

'Phan, you can't think straight, I know, but you need to remain calm.' gestures Coyote to calm him down while he comes closer and closer.

'No, no, no!' screams Phantom.

Coyote is now close enough and reaches out his paw to help him up. But something snaps in Phantom's mind. His vision changes into a white plated environment with a white plated polygon-like figure sticking his arm out. The metal bars turn into the white beams that eroded away Tiff's ship.

'You… are… not going to transform me in you!' he screams with a dramatic build-up.

He gets out his blaster and shoots the figures. Coyote gets it on the vest as he bounces back.

'That's gonna be a bruise. Argh!' he moans.

Phantom runs towards the white plate once known as the door. He bursts through it, only to see more white and more figures. He runs towards the bay while shooting the figures into oblivion. He charges his blaster and blows the remaining white wall away. His vision turns to normal as he entered the bay. The Phantom-wing was still there. With a leap of faith, Phantom clamps on to his ship. PAL opens the cockpit and Phantom enters.

'What happened?' asks PAL concerned as he managed to secure a reserve chair.

'Just fly away!' he commands panicked, full of adrenaline and high on fear.

The ship flies away from the scene.

'Sir, what happened?' asks PAL when they are far away from the scene.

'It was the white again, it was everywhere! The vessel was a diversion, a trap! Set up by them...' he shivers as he really seems to be freezing. Coping with the complex feelings, PAL turns up the heat a little.

'What white figures?' He starts to sound like a therapist. Doesn't matter to Phantom; he does it often.

'Like, white plate tainted polygon-like freaks.' explains Phantom. 'You know? Those you see in those early 3D games?'

'Sir... uhm. I don't know how to say this, but I have tapped into the security cameras, and I couldn't see any polygon-like figures.'

'What? You got shit in your receptors? I clearly saw them.' states Phantom. 'You know what? Huh? Show the footage. We'll see who is right!' *blown up know it all!*

He leans back in his seat, thinking that he is completely right.

'Footage ready sir.' reports PAL after a little managing and comprising.

'Play it, and on a screen that still works.'

The footage showed no white plated polygon or white walls. It was a hallucination. He shot innocent people.

'No, but, they were…' stagnates Phantom, very sure that there was white everywhere. '*degrading in understandability and mood* White walls... figures... they were, they... th-they... getting me?'

'Sir, the footage doesn't lie. That's you, mowing down unarmed men and woman. Also, you nearly shot me with the charged blast that 'blew up' the white door.'

'No... n-no... I don't get it. I-i saw... *slams his fist out of nowhere into screen replaying the footage* Th-th... *fists against his face* GRAARGH!'

Phantom starts raging, about his own failures, about his nightmares and about what happened. He punches and kicks everything he can find. The cockpit window around him, the control stick, the G-Diffusers switches only to smash his face onto the control panel. He begins to cry and scream: 'Who am I?! What am I!? WHAT THE FUCK AM I!?'

A moment of awkward silence follows.

'Sir... uh... are you okay?' asks PAL concerned, breaking the silence. Necessary, otherwise it would stay that way. Like Phantom was frozen in place.

*condemns himself* 'Bring me to the nearest planet.' he commands monotone.

'Yes sir. *scanning* Nearest planet is Kew.' he reports as an intact screen shows the red-brownish planet and shows some details about it. Such as the density of the atmosphere, the cities and the accumulated number of inhabitants. But Phantom doesn't really care for that. He cares for some peace and quiet.

*Wiping his tears away* 'I don't give a crap! Just, ugh, get me out of here...' he waves off before placing his fists in his face again and slamming it into the panel, instead of onto. Like this, the Phantom-wing then flies towards Kew.

Again, I've added more detail to everything and even gave Phantom some more background in his connection with Butcher. Unravel the rest the next time. But, if you wanna be a buzzkill, check out the original Lifting Kurse. Phantom out!


End file.
